This disclosure relates to a vehicle headrest.
FIGS. 1A through 1C illustrate an example of a headrest 100 that incorporates speakers 102. Referring to FIG. 1A, the speakers 102 are attached to a U-shaped support rod 104 and are positioned to lay in a region that is directly behind the user's head (i.e., as opposed to the being located on the left and right sides of the U-shaped support rod 104) and to fire outwardly, in diverging directions on either side of the headrest 100.
A small plastic enclosure 106 is attached to each speaker 102 for forming an acoustic enclosure. Each of those sub-assemblies then gets screwed into a two-piece sheet metal cage 108 which is secured to the U-shaped support rod 104. FIG. 1A shows a partial assembly with a front portion of the sheet metal cage 108 removed to view the speaker 102 and enclosures 106. FIG. 1B shows the sheet metal cage 108 fully assembled with the front portion 110 in place. This construction can leave a gap between a front portion 110 of the sheet metal cage 108 and the exposed surfaces of speakers 102 which can allow for leakage of acoustic energy between the speakers 102 resulting in left speaker radiation from right speaker opening and vice versa.
A molded piece of foam cushioning is placed around that assembly, which is subsequently covered with a cover material 112 (e.g., fabric or leather), and there are a pair of plastic covers 114 which include grille regions 116, for covering the speakers, that are off on either side of the headrest 100, as shown in FIG. 1C. The plastic covers 114 are secured to the sheet metal cage 108. The plastic covers 114 protect the speakers 102 and assist in directing the radiation of acoustic energy toward the front the headrest 100. In the finished assembly, the plastic covers 114 reside on either side of the molded foam cushioning and contribute to the overall width of the headrest 100.